By Bill Birtles, ABC Indonesia correspondent, in Jakarta
A plane lands at Ngurah Rai international airport, as people enjoy the sunset on Kelan Beach in Bali. Photo: AFP / Nurphoto / Garry Lotulung
Authorities in Bali will distribute a list of "dos and don'ts" for visitors arriving at the tourist island and are warning they will cancel visas amid a wave of disrespectful tourists.
The move comes in response to a string of incidents involving foreigners behaving inappropriately or breaching visa conditions, with more than 130 deportations in the first five months of this year.
In a circular issued for government departments on the Indonesian island, Governor Wayan Koster signed off on 12 "dos" and eight "don'ts" for international tourists, one week after a video of a naked German woman disrupting a traditional dance performance at a temple went viral.
She was placed in a mental health facility by local authorities, but nudity at holy sites has been a recurring theme, with two Russian bloggers deported in recent months, one for posing nude on a sacred tree and the other for dropping his pants at a volcano regarded as holy by Hindu Balinese.
Now for the first time, climbing holy trees or posing naked at cultural or religious sites is being clearly spelled out as prohibited under guidelines that apply across the whole island.
The governor says the rules aim to restore "quality and dignity" to Bali's tourism sector, which is still recovering after shutting down completely during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Entering certain holy sites for reasons other than praying, behaving disrespectfully at temples and going nude or wearing immodest clothing all make the "don't" list for tourists.
As does acting aggressively or using offensive language towards police and other government workers, partly in response to a viral video of an Australian woman in March who yelled at several policemen who stopped her for riding a scooter without a helmet.
The "dos" list largely follows a similar theme but urges foreigners not to use cryptocurrencies for transactions while in Indonesia, or to flout visa conditions by illegally running businesses.
Tourists are being told to rent scooters and seek tour guide services from licensed operators.
"Because of the Russia-Ukraine war, a lot of people wanting to avoid conscription have come to Asia including Bali and they're not really tourists," Rai Suryawijaya, the deputy chair of the Bali Hotel and Restaurant Association, told the ABC.
"They don't have much money, so after a few days or a month they're out of money and they're doing some illegal activities, so the government is quite worried about that."
While the guidelines fit largely in line with existing laws and cultural norms in Bali, their promotion is seen as an order to step up enforcement by various agencies on the island.
A senior Bali provincial official in charge of immigration said the rules would be printed out and given to all arrivals at the airport starting in June.
Bali's borders were closed to international tourists for about two years due to the pandemic, and more than a year after the reopening, the island is yet to bounce back to pre-pandemic numbers.
Government figures show about 13,000 to 15,000 tourists a day are arriving, down from the peak of 18,000 before Covid-19.
"The economy is getting better and better, but it's not normal yet, so we still have to work hard to improve it," Suryawijaya said.
- ABC
